And Father said, โThere are no happy endings.โ โRight!โ cried Iowa Bob โ an odd mixture of exuberance and stoicism in his cracked voice. โDeath is horrible, final, and frequently premature,โ Coach Bob declared. โSo what?โ my father said. โRight!โ cried Iowa Bob. โThatโs the point: So what?โ Thus the family maxim was that an unhappy ending did not undermine a rich and energetic life. This was based on the belief that there were no happy endings.
John IrvingIt is an important distinction to note that she looked not only as if she had taken good care of herself, but that she had good reason to have done so. (...) She looked to be in such total possession of her life that only the most confident men could continue to look at her if she looked back at them. Even in bus stations, she was a woman who was stared at only until she looked back.
John Irving